5-year-old suspended after bringing toy gun to Hopkinton school

Share via e-mail

The suspension of a 5-year-old boy for bringing his toy gun to a Hopkinton kindergarten class Wednesday has left his mother shocked and vowing to fight the disciplinary measure.

Christina Stone said Thursday that her son Jonah ended up in the principal’s office at Center School after his kindergarten teacher saw him showing a friend the toy gun he had in his pocket. When Stone ­arrived at the school to pick up the boy, she was told that Jonah would get a half-day suspension because of the incident.

Superintendent Steven ­Hiersche could not be reached Thursday night, and a number for Center School principal ­Mildred Katzman was not ­immediately located.

Stone said that if she had known what her son put in his pocket on that day, she would have told him to leave the toy at home. But to him, it is just a toy, and he did not understand why it was a bad choice, she said.

“At first, I went along with the half-day suspension ­because I didn’t want to go against the school; I was just shocked,” Stone said. “But when I thought about it overnight and then noticed that there is nothing in the handbook about toy weapons, I decided to ­appeal.”

When Stone and her son met with Katzman and a school police officer, the Newtown school shootings were brought up, according to Stone. She later had to explain to Jonah about December’s tragedy in which 20 children and six adults were shot and killed by a gunman walking through the Connecticut school, which Stone said was not easy.

“I think they’re trying to make an example of him,” Stone said.

She will meet with Hiersche Friday to appeal the suspension. If the decision is not changed, she plans to follow up with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.